Paper-file holder



(No Model.)

L. BANKS.

PAPER FILE HOLDER.

No. 379,846. Patented Mar 20, 1888.

W, Jimm NHED STATES PATENT Orrrcn,

LYMAN BANKS, OF MUSCATINE, IOWVA.

PAPER-FILE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,846, dated March 20, 1888.

Application filed November 25, 1887. Serial No. 256.121. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may cmtcern:

Be it known that I, LYMAN BANKS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Muscatine, in the county of Muscatine and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-File Holders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to devices employed for filing papers and for temporary binders; and it consists in the peculiar construction of such devices, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved devices opened in position to receive papers. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the position of the devices and papers in the closed holder. Fig. 4 shows modification in the constructiofi of the holder.

A A designate two plates, hinged together at a.

B designates a tubular curved holder rigidly attached at one end to the outer end of plate A. The inner end of this tubular holder is sharpened, constituting a hollow punch having sharp cutting-edges for cutting holes in the papers as they are placed in the file, as hereinafter explained.

C designates a solid wire needle and auxiliary holder, one end of which is rigidly attached to the outer end of the plate A, and this holder is of the required diameter,'length, and curve to enable it to be readily inserted through and be entirely sheathed within the tubular holder.

D designates a compress -plate, provided with a central hole of the requisite size to enable the plate to slide loosely over the tubular holder. This compress-plate is attached to a supporting-plate or to arms I), hinged or pivoted concentrically with the hinged plates A A, and this plate D is provided with a setscrew, 0, adapted to hold the compress at any required point on the tubular holder.

The compress is provided with a contracting spring, (1, consisting of rubber or any other suitable material, and of any suitable construction, adapted to impart the required force to the compress to force it against the papers in puncturing, filing, and holding them in position, as hereinafter described.

This device may be attached to a filing-case of any suitable material, as shown in the drawings, which represent the plate A attached to the base 9 and the plate A attached to the back f of such a case. The said base and back are hinged or otherwise connected together in any suitable manner. The filingcase, as shown in the drawings, is provided with a lid or cover, h, connected in any suitable manner with the back; or it may be made separate from the back, to be placed over the papers under the compress. is constructed for holding papers upon a desk merely, the cover may be dispensed with. One of these devices having the compress, as described, will hold sheets of ordinary-size paper with sufficient firmness to prevent them from becoming disarranged. For filing largersize sheets of paper, and for use as temporary binders, two or more of the holders may be employed; and even where a number of the holders upon one file may be employed the compress will be useful in filing and compressing the papers upon the holder.

It will be seen that the-holders B G are made the exact curvature but slightly shorter than a true quadrant of the circle whose center is at the hinge of the plates A A and whose radii are the same length as the plates. This construction of the holders is essential to enable the needle-holder to readily follow and be inserted through the tubular holder when the case is closed and the plates are at right angles to each other, and to allow the opening I) between the ends of the holders when the case is opened and the plates are placed 011 the same plane to allow papers to be inserted.

To place a paper upon the holder, the case is opened sufficiently to remove the needleholder from the tubular holder and leave the space I) between them, and the compress is drawn back upon plate A, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A paper is inserted in the required position in the space b, and the com press, being released, forces the paper against the cutting-edges of the end of the holder B with sufficient force to cut a hole in the paper,

\Vhen the device and, carrying it along that holder, compress it upon the plate A or upon other papers previously placed on the file; and when all the papers to be filed at the time are thus placed upon the holder the compress-plate is securedin place by tightening the set-screw.

To examine the papers or to remove them from the file, the case is opened, the compress thrown back, and the papers above those to be examined or removed are slid off the holder A onto the holder A, Where they are retained until the examination or removal of papers is completed, when the compress, being released, returns all. the papers to their place upon the plate A.

The principle of my invention does not depend upon and is not limited to the tubular construction of the holder A, which may be semi-tubular; or it and the holder A may both be solid, each having one round and one flat side, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings; or these holders may be made in any other suitable shape in cross-section, provided they be so constructed that when the case is closed the two curved holders will fit each other closely and allow the papers to be readily inserted, removed, and replaced, substantially as set forth.

What I claim as new is 1. In a paper-file holder, the combination of the hinged plates A A, the tubular holder B, having one end attached to the plate A, and having its free end sharpened in the form of a hollow punch, the needle-holder 0, having one end fastened to the plate A and constructed to slide loosely into the tubular holder, the compress-plate D, having a central hole adapt ed to fit and slide loosely over the tubular holder and supported upon a plate or arms hinged concentrically with the hinged plates,

substantially as and for the purposes described. i

2. In a paper-file holder, the combination of the hinged plates A A, the tubular holder B, having one end fastened to the plate A, and having its free end sharpened in the form of a hollow punch, the needle-holder O, constructed to slide loosely into the tubular holder and having one end fastened to plate A, the compressplate D, having a central hole adapted to fit and slide loosely over the tubular holder and supported upon a plate or arms hinged concentrically with the hinged plates, and the spring 01, adapted to operate the compress automatically in puncturing and filing the papers, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

3. In a paper-file holder, the combination of the hinged plates A A, the tubular holder B, having one end fastened to plate A, and having its free end sharpened in the form of a hollow punch, the needle-holder C; constructed to slide loosely into the tubular holder and having one end fastened to plate A, the compress plate D, having a central hole constructed to fit and slide loosely over the tubular holder, and supported upon a plate or arms hinged concentrically with the hinged plates, the spring d, adapted to operate the compress automatically in puncturing and filing the papers, and the set-screw 0, adapted to hold the compress at any required position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature in presence of two witncsses.

LYMAN BANKS.

Witnesses:

1?. WV. FRANCIS, JOHN HAHN, Jr. 

